Cheap lunches. The Treehouse on Northbourne Avenue

HISTORICALLY the Northbourne side of the Sydney Building has been populated by seedy night clubs which people only go to when they can’t get into Mooseheads.

“It’s not Mooseheads but I can’t face that line” is not a wonderful recommendation but businesses have for many years hung their business plans on that peg.

So it’s a slightly odd spot to find a refined place like The Treehouse Bar doing $9 a la carte lunches.

You order at the bar but after that it’s pretty reasonable table service (“would sir like water?”).

For an extra $3 I got a schooner of the most excellent Rogers beer from the Little Creatures stable.

I had the penne with spicy sausage but there’s a selection of options.

The penne was well turned out, nice and firm, and the sausage had some genuine sweat-on-the-neck fire in it.

They’re not open Mondays and Tuesdays, but you’ll be hard pushed to find a more pleasant place to enjoy a great value lunch in Canberra.

[This article is the sixteenth in a series on cheap lunches to be found in and around the city. If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments or email them to john@citynews.com.au . The complete series can be found on our cheap lunches tag]